A scoping review of the research integrity architecture and how it is addressed in legal frameworks, institutional policies, and the scholarly literature: Research protocol

Abstract

Background: Research integrity is a dynamic area within the ethical research ecosystem. Several efforts have been made to incorporate this topic in scientific governance frameworks. However, the efforts generally result in non-binding declarations and policies. Due to differences in legal systems, research cultures, and institutional approaches worldwide, there is a need to identify and map existent strategies on sound scientific practices. Objective: This scoping review aims to systematically search, map, and evaluate the best available evidence on strategies and recommendations regarding research integrity. The goal is to identify international, national, regional, and local legal frameworks, institutional policies and guidelines, research integrity policies, interventions, strategies, and recommendations for: (i) The design and conduct of research projects, (ii) The publication of research results, (iii) The monitoring of scientific practices, (iv) The implementation of corrective actions, and (v) Mentoring and education on research integrity. Methods: The search will follow the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) and the methodological approach designed by Arksey and O'Malley. It will include legal frameworks, national and international governmental and non-governmental documentation, and scholarly articles published in peer-reviewed journals on research integrity. The search will be conducted in PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, JSTOR, Latin American & Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (Lilacs), Scopus, OECD Library. It will be complemented with hand searching and scanning, covering other databases and grey literature sources. We will extract and synthesize the data using two macro-genres: legal documents (soft law and hard law) and non-legal documents. Keywords: Research integrity, publication ethics, scoping review, Latin America